inequality

Katrine Marçal blows the whistle on the founding father of our economic system, Adam Smith, in Who Cooked Adam Smith’s Dinner?

When Adam Smith proclaimed that all our actions were motivated by self-interest, he used the example of the baker and the butcher as he laid the foundations for his ‘economic man’ theory. Smith reasoned the baker and butcher didn’t give bread and meat out of kindness, which was certainly an interesting viewpoint coming from a bachelor who lived with his mother for most of his life — the same woman who cooked his dinner each night and certainly not out of self-interest.

A special mid-week edition of For The Record, since MPP and Minister of Labour Laurie Scott has been extremely busy and focused on the elimination of Bill 148. The PCS are replacing the previous Liberal government’s personal emergency-leave rules. Now workers will be able to take up to three days for personal illness, two for bereavement and three for family responsibilities — all unpaid. (Currently the rules allowed employees to take up to 10 personal emergency-leave days a year, with two of them paid.) There is a strong look at the highlighted changes here.

Like many people concerned about social justice, I read books and online resources about eliminating poverty and inequality. About five or six years ago I read The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone and I began thinking differently about how we might address poverty.

What was so compelling about the ideas presented in The Spirit Level was that there were countries in which social and health outcomes were positive and these countries happened to be highly equal (as measured by the Gini coefficient). The authors, both epidemiologists, studied a number of health and social outcomes affected by social status. Income, education, or profession defines social status.

Many of us who work at The Advocate spend a lot of time thinking about how life could be better for people in our Kawartha Lakes community, and for all Canadians. That is, how do we achieve a more equitable society, within a capitalism framework, where there isn’t such a great chasm between the wealthiest and the poorest?

When we consider these questions we refer to the kind of wealth that defies all sense of decency. As of June 8 last year, the world’s richest five men owned over $400 billion in wealth. Thus, on average, each man owns nearly as much as 750 million people.

As I wrote in a feature story in last month’s Advocate, too many of us from all political stripes seem to believe that the ‘free market’ needs to be left alone to do its thing to make lives better for people. It is the ‘trickle down’ lie that has been perpetuated for decades, all the while inequality continues to increase.

The Ontario government is now holding the first ever open enrollment sessions in Lindsay for its basic income pilot, with the first one scheduled in Lindsay for Nov. 30 at Celebrations (the old Queen Street United Church).

Change is what we talk about. A possible Colborne Street bridge has been argued about in coffee shops in Lindsay since before there was a Tim Horton’s.

If you’re of a certain age, you might have argued about widening Highway 35 northbound into Lindsay — as your A&W waitress delivered your Teen Burger and root beer to your car on roller skates.

I don’t know about you but I have been in a ‘Will they ever build a Walmart?’ conversation a thousand times. With the possible exception of municipal amalgamation, we and our forbearers have been used to change that is often glacial in these parts.

The leader of Trillium Lakelands District School Board has positioned himself squarely in favour of Lindsay’s basic income pilot, saying there are “so many possibilities” for it to do community good.

Director of Education Larry Hope says his “personal belief is that we have to look at the big picture for our citizens and for society,” he says, referencing the basic income pilot that begins this fall in Lindsay.

“If we can step back and take a look at this, we cannot deny that this will be good for our community,” Hope tells The Lindsay Advocate.

More Ontarians are accessing a food bank today than there were in 2008, and there has been a 20 per cent increase in seniors using food banks during the same time.

These sobering statistics were shared by Kawartha Food Source on the eve of Hunger Awareness Week, held Sept. 18-22.

Hunger Awareness Week is coordinated by Food Banks Canada and its provincial and community food bank associations across the country. It tells the story of the individuals and families that turn to food banks for help.

From the Kawartha Lakes Health Coalition On April 18 this year The Ross Memorial Hospital (RMH) posted a notice in … More

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The Lindsay Advocate is an online news magazine for Lindsay, Ontario, Canada, focused on the social and economic wellness of the town. While we cover most aspects of community life, we have a particular interest in poverty reduction.